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Pittsburgh Steelers take T.J. Watt in first round of 2017 NFL Draft

T.J. Watt is joining brothers J.J. and Derek in the NFL. The Steelers selected the Wisconsin linebacker with the 30th overall pick on Thursday, marking the fourth time in five years that Pittsburgh has used its top draft pick on a linebacker.

T.J. Watt is joining brothers J.J. and Derek in the NFL. The Steelers selected the Wisconsin linebacker with the 30th overall pick on Thursday, marking the fourth time in five years that Pittsburgh has used its top draft pick on a linebacker.

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Updated: 5:56 PM EDT Apr 28, 2017

Pittsburgh Steelers take T.J. Watt in first round of 2017 NFL Draft

T.J. Watt is joining brothers J.J. and Derek in the NFL. The Steelers selected the Wisconsin linebacker with the 30th overall pick on Thursday, marking the fourth time in five years that Pittsburgh has used its top draft pick on a linebacker.

T.J. Watt spent his childhood playing in the shadow of older brothers J.J. and Derek. The neophyte linebacker will get his chance to step into his own with the Steelers.

Pittsburgh selected Watt with the 30th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. He arrived in the city on Friday and was introduced at a news conference at the team's South Side headquarters.

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"To finally have your name called is such a surreal experience for me, and to play for a team like the Steelers and be a part of that really good and gritty defense is going to be fun to play for," Watt said Thursday night.

The 22-year-old Watt started just one season at Wisconsin but picked up 11 1/2 sacks for the Badgers. Not bad for a player who arrived on campus in 2013 as a tight end and didn't switch to defense until 2015.

"I feel like (Pittsburgh's) style translates well to Wisconsin," he said. "It's a 3-4 defense, so I don't have to change anything schematically, and I think I'm just going to bring a really gritty mentality to that football team. I cannot wait."

In a way, Watt views his inexperience as a selling point.

"I was a first or second team All-American after 18 months of playing defense," he said. "I'm scratching the surface of what I can do."

While cautioning that Watt still has plenty to learn, his new bosses didn't exactly shy away from expectations.

"To do that in his first year at the position is really amazing," Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said. "You expect natural growth against better competition ... There's no reason why he can't contribute and be a significant player, but he'll be a young player.

The 6-foot-4, 252-pound Watt joins an outside linebacker group that includes James Harrison, who turns 39 next week, and 2015 first-round pick Bud Dupree. Jarvis Jones, who was the team's top pick in 2013, signed with Arizona as a free agent.